In a letter to the court, Masmari, 31, explained he’d consumed a bottle of cheap whiskey in the hours before he set the fire. He claims not to remember setting it, though he recognized himself on a surveillance video.

“I do not believe that I am a bad man but when I get drunk I have done bad things,” Masmari said in a letter to the court. “I swear that it is my intent to never drink again.”

Prosecutors offered another motive for the arson – homophobia.

Writing the court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg said evidence suggests Masmari was motivated by an “intolerable hate.”

“One of Masmari’s close associates was interviewed by investigators and reported that Masmari confided in him that he ‘burned a gay club’ and that he did it because ‘what these people are doing is wrong,’” Greenberg said in court papers.

Greenberg said another person close to Masmari said he had a “general hostility towards homosexuality.”

Attorneys for Masmari Charles Swift and Jeffrey Cohen noted that prosecutors were unwilling to try to prove that hate motivated the arson.

Though prosecutors and the defense agreed to request a five-year prison sentence for Masmari, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez sent a strong message by doubling the term to ten years at Thursday's sentencing hearing.

Regarding his drinking Masmari says,

“I am sorry for the damage I caused, and I am grateful that no one was hurt,” Masmari said in a letter to the court. “I should have gotten alcohol counseling. … I wish I had."

This is ignorant and Islamophobic. There are plenty of tolerant Muslims, and gay ones for that matter. This easily could have been committed by a Christian, and in fact has many times in the past. Not all Muslims are terrorists, just as not all gay people are pedophiles.

This guy really needs help. No one in their right mind set fire to any building that has people In it regardless of their race creed colour or sexuality His behaviour is way out of order. I personally think that his sentence should have been doubled. What if he didn't like children or the elderly. Would he have still set fire to the building Never mind gay people being in the building and regarding them as being suck or it's wrong it's their life and really has nothing to do with anyone what they do behind a closed bedroom door If they were doctors and he needed help with an illness he would refuse their help if he was dying would he !!!!! He certainly doesn't object to gay and lesbians fighting to make sure he has freedom!!!!! He is a total ass without a doubt